Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A PROCESS APPROACH, Fifth Edition, offers students an in-depth introduction to the process of research design and methods. It is distinguished by its application of the process approach, a proven strategy for guiding students at each step in designing, conducting, and evaluating psychological research.

2. Developing Ideas for Research: Developing, Testing, and Evaluating Theories of Behavior / Sources of Research Ideas / Developing Good Research Questions / What is a Theory? / Types of Theory / Roles of Theory in Science / Characteristics of a Good Theory / Developing Theories / Confirmation and Disconfirmation of Theories / Theory-Driven Versus Data-Driven Research

3. Reviewing the Scientific Literature / Reasons for Reviewing the Literature / Sources of Research Information / Performing Library Research / Reading Research Reports / Fraud and the Role of Values in the Research Process / Developing Hypotheses

4. Choosing a Research Design / Functions of a Research Design / Causal Versus Correlational Relationships / Correlational Research / Experimental Research / Internal and External Validity / Research Settings

6. Choosing and Using Subjects / Using Subjects: General Considerations / Considerations When Using Human Participants / Acquiring Human Participants for Research / Voluntary Participation and Validity / Research Using Deception / Considerations When Using Animals as Subjects in Research

9. Using Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Experimental Designs / Types of Experimental Design / The Problem of Error Variance in Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Designs / Between-Subjects Designs / Within-Subjects Designs / Designs With Two or More Independent Variables / Designs With Two or More Dependent Variables / Confounding and Experimental Design